Birthday #35 and New Year 2017 Celebrations

Welcome back to the start of a new year and a few more miles to be driven!

Here’s how my last few years have gone.

2014: 128 blog posts, 115,740 views and 41,008 visitors

2015: 95 blog posts, 113,438 views and 39,165 visitors

2016: 84 blog posts, 107,955 views and 40,495 visitors

Clearly I’m posting less frequently and it looks like that also translates into fewer views overall, though somehow “visitors” remains steady. Today’s post is just a quickie as I’m out the door (and in the air) at 7:05 a.m. tomorrow morning for my annual trip to the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit, Michigan.

Here was a fun 2016 annual mileage summary that I put together a few days ago with some notes at the bottom if you’d like to geek out with me.

We need to have a moment of silence for a newly-departed 2001 MDX that reader “Russell” emailed me about. After 15 reliable years of service, his MDX succumbed to a rusty frame and had to be retired at 525,609 miles on the odometer.

Russell’s email stated:

Tyson, the harsh chemicals used to treat Connecticut roads took out my car today. The part of the body that bolts to rear axle was destroyed by the salts. Done at 525k. Picked up a certified RDX today w 55k.

Best of luck with your RDX, my friend!

Winter’s weather wrath is something we don’t really have to deal with here in the Grand Canyon State. My backyard, in fact, is still green and I had to mow it the other day – even if only to pick up a few fallen leaves from the tree back there.

I celebrated a milestone of my own last week by hitting 35 years on my odometer a couple of weeks ago.

It was a memorable occasion for many reasons. One of them was a visit from my friend Paul who’s based in Honolulu but happened to be passing through town with his mother and his girlfriend.

Later that evening, some of my friends took me out to eat at one of my favorite restaurants.

I pulled the Integra out on the grass for a couple of evening photographs.

One of the buildings in Tempe has windows that can be used to spell things out. When the Super Bowl was in town a couple of years ago, it said XLIX. Last week it simply said “2017.”

Speaking of XLIX, and ILX, I had a 190,000-mile oil change (they call it a “B1” service) and tire rotation last week. The technician noted a few maintenance items that may need to be addressed in the near future. Among them:

Rear brake pad replacement

Leaking rear shock replacement

Air and cabin filter replacement

Serpentine belt replacement

Brake fluid flush

Clutch fluid flush

Guess it’s time to blow the dust off the old wallet (I learned that phrase from Josh) the next time I go in for service.

My friends and I took a drive to Tucson, Arizona for our New Year festivities.

My friend James let us stay overnight in his historic 1914 home near the University of Arizona.

On my drive home, I received a picture of myself from another friend who wasn’t traveling with us but who happened to come up behind me on Interstate 10 westbound just outside Phoenix. The world is too small.

This morning I cruised down to Chandler, Arizona for an annual New Year Meet at Science of Speed, an NSX & S2000 specialty shop that I use for some of my maintenance needs. There was a really nice turnout – probably 30 to 40 cars. One of them was this unassuming 1992 Formula Red that looks a lot like mine.

Until you peek at the odometer: 347,216. Wow! The owner said he’d owned it for 14 years and the car is still on its original engine and transmission.

Have a great rest of your weekend! I’ll be freezing my buns off in Michigan but seeing some hot cars (hopefully) at the auto show.

Right now the most pressing thing with the Integra is that I spotted a leaky radiator seam. Unfortunately the OEM replacement part is discontinued so I’ll have to go aftermarket. I’m thinking Koyo. But no planned trips with that car just yet!

Tyson, Happy Belated. I believe my birthday is a day before yours (December 27th). I recently was told I have a seeping valve cover and a cam plug that is leaking, but I declined the services. Any idea what a cam plug is? Also, the list that the dealership provided to you seems to be a little harsh. The brake fluid and clutch fluid service is a good idea, and replacing the serpentine belt is always a good idea. Leaking shocks can happen over time, so in my opinion I would have waited on that, but always go OEM!

Do you consider yourself middle-aged? I remember my mid 30’s well! That was nearly 20 years ago, and I don’t feel a day over 21.

One week from today we will be talking about retiring to bed early with alarm clocks set for early Sunday morning, all in anticipation of the annual PFC event. Good times ahead! I hope you’ve begun your training, for judgement day is just around the corner!

Hi Tyson, pretty entertaining to see that the Legend coupe was the cheapest per mile for 2016. Guessing with your work on the power-steering-fluid-usage you’ll spend some cash on the old girl this year? Guessing your maintenance cost didn’t factor in the fuel used over the course of the year?

Love the pic in front of the “adult superstore” on NYE! 😉 I’d get the damaged wheel stud replaced on the ILX too, that should be a cheap and easy fix that will save you any heartache later should the lug nut get stuck on the damaged threads.

Have a blast in Detroit, I so wish I could have joined y’all but timing didn’t work out. Get some pix of that refreshed F-150 for me!

We’ll miss you dearly! Just waiting for the guys to arrive. It’s 16 degrees out and the heaviest outerwear I brought is a fleece hoodie. Haha. Good call on the lug stud. I’ll get that addressed. Hope your weekend has gone stellar!!

It gets worse than the fleece hoody. I just went and dropped my friend Brian off in my Sonic in a snowstorm wearing Adidas gym shorts. I got a few odd looks from the locals. I think we got a good 4″ last night. Back to Cobo Hall here shortly for the day 2 festivities, then catching my 3:00 flight this afternoon!

Thank you kind sir! Yeah just got home last night and it’s time to get back to reality, ick! I don’t blame you for taking a pass on this year. I’ve been nudged by a lot of people who think I should try and make it to Chicago’s show next month. It’s not looking likely (for this year anyway) but that’s a bucket list item for me.